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Elizabeth Holland
Early life Elizabeth was born in 1881 to socialites Edward and Louisa Holland (née Ganesevoort). Growing up, Elizabeth was cared for by housemaid Marie Broud along with Marie's daughter Lina Broud and the stableboy, Will Keller. The three became really close friends until Elizabeth began taking fishing lessons under Mrs. Bertrand with Penelope Hayes at age 12. At age 16, Elizabeth was given a extravagant debutante-ball. She takes her fathers death very hard. The Luxe Elizabeth Holland, the main character, is first introduced in the midst of a Manhattan ballroom scene. Soon, the engagement of Elizabeth Holland and Henry Schoonmaker, arranged by Schoonmaker's wealthy father William and Elizabeth's strict mother, occupies high society as the cast of characters variously anticipate and dread the marriage. Elizabeth must apologize to her friend, Penelope, whose is in love with Henry. Henry, meanwhile, feels reluctant to marry Elizabeth because he feels nothing for her, and nothing for Penelope ether. The day Henry goes to tell Elizabeth about the planned arranged marriage, he meets Diana, whom he instantly falls in love with. When Henry fails to escort Elizabeth to a ball, his father decides to move up the wedding date to add pressure. Later that night, Penelope visits the engaged Henry at home, in hopes of seducing him. She has no success.The romantic tensions of The Luxe heighten when Elizabeth's coachman and lover, William Keller, decides to move to California for business. While she is at a party, Will writes Elizabeth a letter informing her of his departure: "I am going to California and I can only pray that I will one day see you there..."[2] When Elizabeth returns home after the party, she is finds that Will has already gone and she will have to endure Henry as a husband. When the maid Lina discovers the letter, she takes off to find Will, because she too is in love with him. When Lina discovers she had no money for a train to California, she returns to the Hollands' homestead feeling dejected (like she should). In the end of the novel however, Lina tells Penelope about Will and Elizabeth in exchange for money and a hotel to stay in. Henry meanwhile, is struggling between doing what he must, which is marry Elizabeth, and following his heart, which means being with Diana. He later invites Diana to his greenhouse, where they spend the night trading secrets and kisses. Elizabeth discovers their secret love affair when she spots Diana leaving Henry's carriage on a corner street of Manhattan. Elizabeth then turns to Penelope, who has blackmailed her into faking her own death, and Elizabeth manages to take a train to California to join her true love, Will Keller.The book begins with Elizabeth Holland in California with her runaway love, Will Keller. Rumours While Elizabeth is having a good time in California, her sister Diana is anything but happy. Diana is stuck in New York, being one of the only two people that knows that her sister's death is a hoax. The other person, Penelope Hayes, decides that she would like to marry the rich and famous Henry Schoonmaker, Elizabeth's ex-fiance. Throughout the book, Diana and Henry have a secret relationship and plan on somehow marrying. Meanwhile, Elizabeth hears of her family's worsening financial situation, and she decides that she has to help them somehow, seeing as the reason they remain having these troubles is that she did not marry rich Henry. Elizabeth and Will take a train to New York and reveal themselves to her mother and aunt. Henry's father, William Schoonmaker, decides that for reputation's sake it would be a good idea for Henry to marry Penelope, who has been proving herself to be a very worthy socialite. Meanwhile, Lina Broud, the Holland's ex-maid, running out of money that she got from dishing Holland family secrets to Penelope, decides to move up the social scale with the help of Tristan, a tailor from the Lord & Taylor clothing store. With Tristan's help, she not only learns to act and dress like an educated lady but also meets and becomes the protegee of incredibly rich Mr. Carey Lewis Longhorn. Mr. Longhorn changes her name to Carolina Broad and develops a story about being an orphaned western heiress, and takes her to various parties where she officially meets Penelope Hayes. As a bribe to Penelope, whom Carolina wants as a friend to gain social status, Carolina tells Penelope of how Henry and Diana had made love one night in Diana's own bedroom. Penelope uses this information to blackmail Henry into marrying her in order to protect Diana's reputation. The wedding happens so fast that Henry has no time to explain to Diana what happened so she is very depressed and angry. Also, a man named Snowden Cairns, a friend of the late Mr. Holland, comes and helps the Hollands out of some of their financial troubles. They all decide it is best if Elizabeth and Will are married and sent back to California to avoid scandal. Snowden marries Will and Elizabeth at the Holland Home. When they try to leave, at the train station, townspeople recognize the famous Elizabeth Holland and assume that Will has kidnapped her. They proceed to shoot Will, killing him, and returning Elizabeth to her home. The next day, it is all over society that Elizabeth Holland had been kidnapped by the old stable boy, and, conveniently, the Hollands decide to go with this story. The book ends with Henry and Penelope getting married, both Holland sisters heartbroken, and a promise to Diana from Elizabeth to get Henry back. Envy Likewise, Elizabeth Holland grieves over the loss of her true love, Will Keller, who was killed in the previous novel, growing weaker and more fragile everyday. Carolina Broad, as she is now referred to as, is quite content befriending Mr. Carey Lewis Longhorn, a wealthy elderly gentleman, who continues to provide for her.The characters' paths once again intertwine when Henry plans a fishing trip to Florida with his good friend, Teddy Cutting. However, Penelope invites herself along, and offers Carolina Broad the invitation, as well. At a luncheon hosted by the Hollands, Penelope extends the invitation once more to her once good friend, Elizabeth Holland. Meanwhile, Henry confronts Diana on the Holland porch, and explains his piteous situation with Penelope. He then asks her to find a way to secretly meet him in Florida, where they may possibly be together. When Diana returns to the luncheon, Elizabeth presses Penelope to allow her sister to join them, as well.The group of socialites, along with Penelope's older brother, Grayson Hayes, and another member of New York's ellite, Leland Bouchard, travel south to Florida, where they vacation on the beach. Before they arrive, Penelope pulls her brother aside and asks him to play a bit with the younger Holland's heart strings. She then claims the reason for the trouble is mere amusement, but her hidden intentions become clear when she suspects Henry and Diana have planned the trip for their own romantic affairs. However, Penelope's scheme backfires when her brother begins to legitimately fall in love with Diana.Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Teddy rekindle their lost friendship, and Teddy proposes for the third time to Elizabeth. However, when Elizabeth begins to feel a certain attraction to her friend, she is overwhelmed with guilt, due to her past love. Romance blooms further after Carolina discovers she has grown a bit too fond of Leland. Still, it seems Leland has taken a liking to her, as well. At the peak of their romantic expedition, Carolina receives news that Mr. Longhorn has passed on. She then returns to New York to attend his funeral, where she makes the miraculous discovery that he has left all of his estates and wealth to her. She shares this joyous reason with her good friend and part-time lover, Tristan Wrigley.Back in Florida, Henry and Penelope continue to bicker and Penelope threatens Diana's reputation several times when the papers report of Penelope's marital insecurties. Nevertheless, Henry and Diana continue to meet secretly, and express their undying love to each other. Diana, however, feels as if Henry has seduced her into becoming his mistress, and before she has a chance to fully dismiss him, he quickly promises to leave Penelope.Later, Teddy informs Henry that he plans on joining the army and will be shipped to the Philippines. A more worldly Henry then joins Grayson in the bar, where his brother-in-law expresses his love for Diana. Henry feels a ridiculous amount of pride for having claimed her heart, and returns to his hotel room in a drunken state to find Penelope bawling on the balcony. After making a futile attempt at comforting her, Penelope decides that she wants more, and Henry easily gives in to her seduction and they have sex.Diana sees the enviable couple half-naked on their balcony, and assumes that Henry has deceived her. Heartbroken as ever, Diana runs off into the early morning. Later, Henry tells Penelope that their love making was a mistake and he never should have committed the act. He goes after Diana, who then confronts him, claiming that she no longer loves him. Henry is distraught.After returning to New York, Penelope informs the guests at a Schoonmaker dinner party that she and Henry are expecting a child. Hearing this, a dejected Diana invites Grayson along for a walk through the mansion, where he professes his sincerest love to her. He allows her to seduce him and they make love, but a horrified Henry witnesses this.Meanwhile, Elizabeth discovers that she, herself, is pregnant with Will's child. When her mother demands she get an abortion, Elizabeth refuses, and plans to proceed with the pregnancy. Snowden, Mr. Holland's former business partner, is told of this and he proposes to her. Elizabeth accepts in order to avoid any scandal.Later, Henry enlists in the army. He notifies a brutally shocked Penelope of this, and accuses her of her false pregnancy. He then sends Diana a long letter, professing his love to her and his apologies. In response, a determined Diana cuts her hair to pass as a man, and runs away to join the army in search of her true love. Splendour Elizabeth Holland is enjoying her role as Snowden Cairn's wife when she discovers a mysterious note delivered to Mr. Cairns by a menacing yet familiar stranger. The note is linked to her father's death. It is soon revealed that Edward Holland secured the lot for in which Will and Elizabeth lived in during their short time in the West for Will (It is never revealed why Mr. Holland did this but Elizabeth suspects that he knew about their (Elizabeth and Will's) relationship). She confronts Snowden about the note and realizes he killed Mr. Holland in Klondike, had Will Keller killed and married Elizabeth to gain control of the lot. Seeing that he is found out, Cairns covers Elizabeth's mouth with some fluid and heavily sedates her on a regular basis. When Teddy Cutting visits Elizabeth, she tries to call out 'help' to him, but she is quickly sedated by Cairns. One night, she manages to leave the confines of her room and as she goes down the stairs, she spots Cairns in the stairwell. He moves to attack her but she pushes him off the stairs to his death.The next day, some police officials arrive at the Cairns' home to investigate Snowden's death. Teddy arrives as Elizabeth is on the verge of confessing to the murder and he tells the officials that Snowden simply fell from the stairs. One of the policemen is the man who delivered the note and Elizabeth realizes why he was so familiar: he was one of the policemen who gunned down Will. She threatens to expose him unless he leaves her be. The man agrees and departs. Teddy returns Elizabeth to her home and she tells him the whole story of her and Will. Both of them declare their feelings for each other and share a kiss. Elizabeth asks Teddy to name her child, whether boy or girl, Keller Cutting.